A wild Google Pixel 7 prototype appeared on eBay, but you can no longer bid on it

There’s never a dull moment for hardcore Google fans eagerly awaiting the full announcements and commercial releases of the search giant’s extensive new in-house hardware lineup, as the Pixel Tablet was literally only confirmed to supports third-party styluses and now the Pixel 7 handset is in the spotlight for one of the weirdest reasons we can think of.

That means the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro designs have virtually no secrets several months before their actual debut, which makes it no less surprising to see the former “vanilla” model already on eBay.

wait what?!

It’s true, an alleged Pixel 7 prototype in a black color with 128 gigabytes of internal storage and unlocked dual-SIM support for “all carriers” was for sale briefly for anyone who wants to experiment with Android 13 and ‘pixel apps in development’.

While there’s absolutely no way of knowing how such a device could end up in such a place so early in the development process, we also have no reason to doubt the legitimacy of this wild (and predictably short-lived) eBay venture. offer.

The seller published some photos that very clearly show a functional handset that has all the official (and leaked) Pixel 7 boxes, from a flat screen reminiscent of last year’s Pixel 6 to an equally familiar-looking chin, revised dual-camera module on the rear, and a logo very similar to what Google usually uses to “disguise” early prototypes of its phones.

Unfortunately for collectors of such items, the eBay auction that started at a paltry $450 ended before anyone could make a single bid in an obvious and completely unsurprising sign that someone was going to be in trouble for this.. .unusual leak.

But wait, there’s more

As rare as it may feel to see an unquestionably unfinished prototype of a high-profile prototype Google-made product in a public place several months prior to a commercial rollout, this… event is eerily similar to that incredibly revealing (and decidedly random) Pixel Watch leak from just over a month ago.

Of course, we highly doubt that an American restaurant was also the point of departure for this device, especially with another unreleased device making a quirky cameo appearance in one of the Pixel 7 photos attached to the now-deleted eBay listing. .

Yes, that’s almost certainly a Pixel 7 Pro reflected in the glass back of the Pixel 7, meaning whoever took these snapshots at one point owned not one but two different Google phones that later would see the light of day this year.

That must be some kind of record, and while there’s of course no way to know for sure, something tells us these prototypes will be back on the world wide web, perhaps along with some specs and features to confirm existing rumors and a key in empty spaces to be filled.